Why Can't You All Just OBEY Me?!

So I finally stopped being lazy and got rid of the stupid blogrolling link thing and made my own and it was slowing down the site a bit and quite frankly, it demostrated my laziness. Blogrolling is for people who don’t KNOW how to make their own links and since I do I decided to stop using it. So all the links on the left should be set with a target of _blank. If they’re not and you notice it please let me know so I can fix it.

Wednesday night while Keli was getting her nails done at the mall nearby, Bailey and I walked down to Barnes and Nobles becaue I wanted to pick up a new book. I’ve really been enjoying my little outings with Bailey. It’s always fun to walk down the street and have her ask about things which to me seem so ordinary.

Case in point, the trees lining 4th street downtown have white christmas tree lights in them and they go on at night year round (as far as I know). So Bailey was wondering where the cords were for the lights as she’s used to our Christmas trees that have an electircal cord plugging into the wall and she couldn’t find the cords. I explained that the cords are suspended in the air from tree to tree so that people don’t trip on them. The look on her face was sheer amazement that the trees had lights on them and there was, in her opinion, no plug.

I wanted to pick up a book that would allow me to actually learn something as opposed to a fiction novel. I realized lately that I don’t know as much as I used to about major religios. Other religions fascinate me. I’ve read a lot about them in the past but the last few years have made me push the less important information to the dusty caves of my brain.

I ended up buying a book called “The Worlds Religions” by Huston Smith. Mostly because it seemed to provide a neutral viewpoint on the worlds main religions. Here’s what the author claims the book will provide:

explores the essential elements and teachings of the world’s predominant faiths, including:

The problem I have with books on religions is that most authors are out to push a certain agenda. They’re out to compare the pros and cons of one religion to the next. Even though I was raised in a Non-Denominational Christian household I find other religions fascinating. I don’t particularly like books where the author is trying to point out the downfalls of some faiths to the successes of another religion. Books like that don’t teach you anything and if I wanted the viewpoint I would just listen to AM radio.

Huston Smith does a really good job at providing the history, teachings, and philosophy of the religions covered in the book.

Don’t know where I was going with all of that but if you’re interested in brushing up your religious knowledge it’s a good book to start with.

Ahh, the home stretch of 2004 Presidential election is upon us. Will the next election be as chaotic as the last one? Will the next Presidential term be as… intersting as the current one? Who knows. Over the last 3 years I’ve heard lots of grumbling about Bush. I hope that grumbling will result in a record number of voters getting off their lazy, whiny, complaining duffs and go to their closest voting station and cast their vote. As I always say, if you don’t vote, you don’t have any right to complain about the state of things. Unless you are not of age to vote in which case you probably complaing about everything.

I heard on the radio this week that a vast majority of 20-30 year old voters obtain their information on political candidates and important platform issues and opionions from late night TV. Do you realize how scary it is that a large number of our voters base their vote on what is said by the likes of the Daily Show and Jay Leno?

Project Vote Smart has a list of what they claim to be all of the candidates running for Presidency.

I never knew there was a Hebrew Christian Party or a New Awakening Party. Interesting.

It looks like this will be an interesting campaign. Just remember, How did the Romans keep their slaves, err, I mean peoples from revolting and overthrowing the system? They gave them bread and circuses…

In response to this article that features a car from Chrysler that displays an astounding 850 horsepower V-12 engine, 7 speed transmission and a top speed of 248 mph and can go from zero to 100 mph in 6.2 seconds I have this to say:

There is still a speed limit people.

All getting to 100 mph in 6.2 seconds means is you will no doubt burn through the tread on your expensive tires and get tickets much easier.

Sorta like those Porches that have the spoiler that automagically opens up when you go above 75-80 mph. Does anyone stop to think that that’s a big red flag for law enforcement? Anyone with that spoiler up is asking for a ticket.

If I wasn’t married I’d have to seriously question my masculinity as I just don’t get the whole “ooh look! car go zoom!” thing.

After posting the other day about my hankering for some of Alan Forbes’ artwork I looked on ebay. I know, I said I’ve looked repeatedly but it just so happened that that day there was an auction for one of his posters. Here’s the poster I won in an auction for $15.50 (that includes shipping):

I’m still on the hunt for more of his work so if you run across anybody selling any, please do let me know!

Anyone who’s ever spent any length of time with a 3 year old knows it’s … challenging. I’m finding things out about parenting and children that make my parents’ actions much clearer. I find myself telling my child-less friends “You’ll understand when you’re a parent someday” and I’ll realize that that’s what my parents used to tell me when I was still living at home and then I feel old. Really old.

Having a kid at a young age is rough. When my daughter was born I was 18 – by all rights, I was still a kid myself. When people used to tell me that the instant bond you feel with your new baby is instantaneous and is stonger than anything you’ve ever felt in your entire life, they’re right. The very moment Bailey was born I felt this new… sense of utter and complete joy that I’ve never felt before. The moment I saw her big blue eyes and her perfect little lips and chubby little face (and chubby arms, legs, feet, neck… hey, she was 9lbs. 9oz for cryin out loud!) I was consumed by a feeling that I never expected. I honestly remember my heart skipping a few beats when I first looked at her. I was a father. It was a strange thing. So what did I do shortly after 4:52 that morning? I called MY dad. I called him, woke him up, and the only thing I was really able to say before starting to cry was “Hey Grandpa…”

Unfortunately, those good times don’t last forever. That precious innocent little baby grew up (without my permission I might add) and before I knew it she was crawling, then walking, then talking and then talking back to us and running away from us. Testing us. Pushing the limits. Throwing tantrums. In the craziness of our everyday life it’s hard not to overlook the little blessings that you walk past.

It’s extremely hard to not take things for granted. It’s hard to cherish every moment with her because I don’t know what the future holds. It’s hard to forget about the little things she does to annoy me and it’s hard to remember that she’s only 3 years old and cannot really be reasoned with. I love playing with her. I love rough-housing with her. I love the little things like brushing her hair and watching her dance to any beat of music that she hears.

I’m a pretty reserved person. I’ve never ever been comfortable dancing or singing around other people. I’m very self concious but when it’s just me and my baby I can’t help but break down and boogie with her to whatever song may be on. When she sings along to songs and makes up her own songs it’s a very contagious attitude.

My point with all this is that for as many times as I have to give her time-outs, for as many times as I have to yell at her to not hit the cat, or not to talk back, to eat all her dinner, to not wet her pants (potty training is just OH SO much fun!) – you know you’re doing alright as a father when you tuck your daughter in to bed, after a long day at work and at home with her and she gives you a big hug and looks at you and says

“I wove you as my Daddy, Daddy”

Moments like that make me want to just squeeze her and never let go because that one sentence made my heart want to burst. It made all the crap in life go away and it made everything okay. It took all the stress of work and all the little things that I hold onto throughout the day evaporate and it literally brought tears to my eye.

I’m trying to find a place online where I can purchase some of Alan Forbes’ artwork. For those of you who don’t know who Alan Forbes, he is an artist who made his impact first by creating the logo for The Black Crowes. From there he was in huge demand for artwork by bands such as AFI, Rancid, 311, Queens of the Stone Age, Distillers, and has also done all of the artwork for Ozzy Osbourne’s website . He lives in San Francisco and also toured with Guns n’ Roses as a roadie.

His artwork is admired by most, disliked by some and some of his work is considered trash to others. His syle is dark outlines with lots of bright colors. I first noticed his work when buying AFI’s albums as he was comissioned to design three covers and with their latest album “Sing the Sorrow” he designed the theme logos and emblems of the album and also designed most of the promotional artwork for posters and such. Here are the covers he designed for AFI:

My plea here is if any of you who read this know of a place to purchase his artwork please email me or leave a comment and let me know. And before any of you wise-asses say “why don’t you try google?” or “try ebay” – I have. Both. Several times with fruitless attempts. Actually, strike that, I’ve found them but i’m looking for AFFORDABLE copies. Originals that are signed would be nice but for those of us with a budget, a poster copy would be cool.

I share the blame for my divorce. I did a lot of things wrong in my marriage: worked too hard, cared too much, made too many sacrifices for my family. Tore my heart out and left it lying on the kitchen floor so that anybody who wasn’t too busy stabbing me in the back could stomp it into the no-wax vinyl tiles that I myself laid down at a savings of more than two thousand dollars. I am guilty of that and more.

But forget it. Past is past. Let’s move on. You are now dating my ex-wife, and her lawyer, my lawyer, and a state judge have all informed me in writing that you have a legal right to do so. So be it. I’m not a blackmailing pickpocket doubletalking divorce attorney, so I don’t know the technicalities. But the two of us still need to have some kind of ground rules here:

1. Twenty-two years, pal. That’s how long we were married. You’ve been dating her for a month. Tell you what. In twenty-one years and eleven months, let’s you and me talk again.

2. Despite what you may have been told, I’ve got some self-respect left, and I don’t need to have your face shoved into my face every time I turn around. From five o’clock on Friday afternoon until two o’clock on Sunday morning, the bar at the Ramada Inn belongs to me.